Why Podcasts Should be Part of Your Businesses Content Strategy

Our world is cluttered with all things digital. Online content is constantly circulating the internet, making it harder for businesses to get noticed.

It’s time for businesses to tap into a new niche – one that exists beyond Facebook posts, YouTube videos and tweets. It’s time for brands to embrace the world of podcasts.

Granted, podcasting isn’t actually a new digital tactic. The first podcasts (originally called audio blogs) were started in 2004. But fast-forward 13 years, and their mainstream success is clearly signalling a growing demand for this specialist content.

According to RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research), 3.7 million adults in the UK listen to podcasts. That’s around 6.5% of the population. That’s 3.7 million people that could potentially be consuming your content, and maximising your businesses reach.

If you’re not convinced by the numbers, here are some of the main reasons why you need to make podcasting part of your content strategy.

Podcasts and Thinking Outside the Blog Post

Blog posts are great, but incredibly oversaturated. There are currently half a billion English speaking blogs out there waiting to be read. That’s half a billion pieces of content out there vying for audience attention.

Video content statistics are no better. As another popular channel for content marketing, YouTube gets 30 million visitors every day. There are currently five billion videos that get watched on the site every day. That’s four million hours of content that your company is competing against.

As previously mentioned, podcasting is still a relatively underused and untapped market. When looking at the research compiled by the Content Marketing Institute, only 22% of B2B and B2C businesses in the UK use podcasts. Of that 22 %, only 20% actually find the practice effective. Let’s compare this with North America and Australia. Their effectiveness ratings are 39% and 42% respectively, when compared to their 22% usage.

The UK clearly has yet to buy into the benefits of podcasting, as many businesses still find comfort in more traditional methods. However, companies should start to make this best practice for the future, as it could help solidify their presence before it too becomes saturated- offering a competitive edge.

Better Understanding of Audience

When you’re creating podcasts, you’re building community. Podcast hosts have the power of not only cementing themselves as industry leaders but collaborating with industry influencer guests. This is called interview-style podcasting.

This method has definitely worked for popular business-led podcast Profit. Power. Pursuit. This series is part of the Creative Live brand, who specialise in creative classes as well as blog content. To accompany this, their podcasts are all about exploring what it means to build a business creatively.

This podcast consistently features business experts from a wealth of sectors within the creative industry. These guest influencer features have been pivotal in propelling the success of the series and ultimately, the Creative Live brand. Podcast content doesn’t have to attract everyone. The estimated 40,000 who listen to this podcast every month are getting content that is directly catering to their needs and they clearly keep coming back for more.

In this case, podcasting has provided the groundwork for new and loyal audiences to become more familiarised with the business brand, as well as get direct access to experts in their field. The more relevant your audio is, the more traffic it will bring.

Giving Your Brand some Personality

It can be difficult to inject personality into your brand using more traditional methods of content creation. Podcasts can offer up a new side of yourself and your brand. They are also much more personal and easier to have fun with.

Businesses don’t have to be sterile. Once you develop your style and delivery, you can start to build a rapport between yourself and your audience or potential clients. Audio has the advantage of feeling much more intimate than just writing content or updating a social media post, so don’t be afraid to explore your tone!

Podcasts and Search Engine Rankings

Over time, it is possible to rank your podcasts in search engines. While direct audio content isn’t readable by search engines, there are tactics you can use to have them show up on the results pages:

Being a regular podcaster: Once you start to regulate your posts, you will gain credible links back from other sites as a trusted source of content. This will result in a positive shift towards your rankings, as your content will be recognised as a quality resource.

Directories: Just as you’d list your business in popular directories to help boost its authority in the search engines, listing your podcast in directories can be similarly beneficial.

The above image is the most popular podcast hosting sites: iTunes, Stitcher Smart Radio, Google Play and Podbean. These sites have millions of listeners a month. Hosting your content on these sites will help it to appear within specific category searches on each platform.

Titles and page URLs: Use a targeted page URL and title for every episode. Taking the time to create an introduction of a few hundred words that includes keywords and subject themes applicable to your content will help with optimised search.

Now it’s over to you. The key benefits of podcasting have been covered, so consider how your brand can start using it to benefit business. The world of podcasting can help you create engaging, targeted and fun content that will surely get you noticed. Implement this into your content strategy and give your business a competitive edge!